Recent Arkansas Comments
Post a comment Contact webmasterBut is it a pedestrian bridge?
And a Non-historic one at that!
It appears we have a pedestrian bridge.
It appears we have a pedestrian bridge.
It must therefore be a pedestrian pedestrian bridge.
It is original White River Railway, then Missouri Pacific, then Union Pacific, and now Missouri & Northern Arkansas. Don't get this line confused with the abandoned line of the nearby Missouri & North Arkansas.
Thanks for the pictures. This is a special place to my family as ALL the property surrounding this tunnel has been owned by my family since before the construction of the railway and tunnel themselves.
Here is an article about the plans for this bridge and area:
http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2013/mar/24/bridge-park-idea-advances-toward-reality/?f=trilakes
Faulkner County had a big tornado two years ago, damage to their roads from oil & gas play, and now the Mayflower oil spill. Perhapsvexxon will fund a bridge park!!!!!
wish i did. i took them on my girlfreinds ipod. im not sure why they are so small
I sure like the words "the bridge is open again". *grin*
Those are pretty little photos. Do you have larger ones? And I find that overcast days are the best for getting photos of the details. :)
this bridge is now back open and posted with a 3 ton weight limit! went there about 3 days ago and drove across it. it is a beautiful bridge that i have always wanted to see and was so glad to see that white county had rehabilatated it and it was back open, i will attach some pictures but it was very cloudy so there not that pretty but the bridge is there is full beauty!
This is the last Steel Stringer of this design along US 425 in Arkansas.
Just spoke with the newly appointed judge down there who has a couple years and a desire to see this one restored.
We love this bridge.
visited in march of 2013. deck is disappearing fast and some kids have taken to it with some spray paint. still gorgeous.
http://www.facebook.com/SalineCrossing?ref=ts&fref=ts For the latest information about efforts to preserve the bridge and build a regional park on the location, join this facebook page.
There will be an event to raise awareness of the bridge in May, 2013 with tours of the land set aside around the bridge for the park.
I drive across this bridge every single day. Including the Day it collapsed. I would Love to see a picture of it.
I read the messages about when the bridge was built. Hope this helps. This is from the Beaver, Arkansas city web site:
The ferry continued until 1926, when a concrete bridge was built by the Carroll County road crew. This bridge stood until it was destroyed by flood in 1943. The present suspension bridge, now known as the "Little Golden Gate", was submitted for bid by the Carroll County Court in 1944. The contract was let to Pioneer Construction Company of Malvern Arkansas to construct the present suspension bridge on December 19, 1947, for a total cost of $107,785.93. At the same time, the Table Rock Dam was being built. The Corps of Engineers informed the Contractor that it was necessary to raise the construction some 40 feet; therefore the bridge was not completed until 1949. The bridge is now on the National Register for Historical Places.
I was in Benton County a while back and saw the original plans for the bridge. It was designed and built by the Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Company, Leavenworth, KS in 1911. We will be marketing this bridge in the next month or two to the local towns, federal agencies and historic society. Keep a look out and let these people know if the locals want to keep it and maybe something could happen.
My earlier messsage was incorrect. We looked again, and found it today!!
they cleared the power lines right next to it. The bridge is now kind of visible from the road.
Ongoing investigations by Jack and myself and friends seem now to indicate the bridge was completely in what we now know as LeFlore county in Oklahoma, about 7 miles south of Fort Smith on the Texas road. We are still researching.
We were driving through Arkansas, and had to stop and take a picture of this. It kind of hit home because we are losing a K-truss bridge from where we are from - Alexandria, LA - the OK Allen bridge over the Red River.
From google maps, I believe this bridge is now lost. I am going to check out some time this week :(
I used to use the bridge twice a day to avoid the speed traps that cave springs police set up in town. Now i just drive slower.
During the flood in the spring of 2011, the only bridge that was not under water was the Osage Creek Bridge. why not just build a bridge just west of it and use the old one as a fishing/foot/four-wheeler bridge. oh wait the cranky old man (who build his house in a flood plane) wouldn't like it and just might wave his gun at you.
Update. Mom and dad are now resting together. Still pass that spot on occasion, still have the thrill!!
The Beaver Bridge could not have been built in 1943, as the original drawings were dated October 21, 1947. You can find them here:
http://www.arkansashighways.com/historic_bridge/old_bridge_plans.aspx
Dear Bridge Hunter
According to other sources
- http://www.arkansas.com/places-to-go/cities-and-towns/city-detail.aspx?city=Beaver
- http://www.arkansasties.com/Carroll/Structures/Beaver.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bridges_on_the_National_Register_of_Historic_Places_in_Arkansas
the "Beaver Bridge" was built in 1943, NOT 1949, as stated above?
(I was searching for a birthday card picture of a bridge as old as my uncle, who is a retired Honorary Professor at the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering)
Who is now right?
Kind Regards from Switzerland
Philipp Meier
Photo of the bridge a few days before it was closed for demolition in January 2013. This is from the south side looking north.
Found this video about the new Broadway Bridge design. It appears that there will be no UCEB, but a double arch bridge instead.
The railroads typically did this when they expected that they might double track the line. They would then need to have the wider piers to support the wider spans. By putting in the wider piers when the bridge was built it saved on the expense of doing it later.
This bridge only has a week of life left, sadly. The county has decided to tear it down and replace it with a new bridge. The bridge and road to it will be closed starting Jan. 22. The new bridge is expected to be completed this year.
I continue to be amazed at how many people feel the need to flaunt their stupidity. Apparently, the reason this bridge is being replaced is because its like the I-35W bridge. Which it isn't. http://www.baxterbulletin.com/article/20130107/NEWS01/301070003/Historic-bridge-replaced
My grandfather and two of his brothers opened an Otasco store in Black Rock after my grandfather returned from WWII (if I am remembering the story correctly as told to me by my mom). They had a great business going until the new bridge was built because people were afraid to cross the old suspension bridge. This meant that shoppers on the West side of the river were a captive audience, so to speak. Once the new structure was built, people from Powhatan and Black Rock had easy access to Walnut Ridge, and it was bye-bye Otasco!
There was no old bridge. One had to go to Ozark or Dardanelle/Russellville to cross the Arkansas River before this bridge was built.
Say I lived in Morrison Bluff (south bank) before the bridge was built. The trip to Clarksville would be 46 miles via Ozark or 61 via Russellville instead of the 9 miles it is today.
wow i can remember actually driving across this bridge with my dad in the 1970's before it finally collapsed. i also remember hearing that there were actually some that drove across it the very same day it fell into the saline river,,seems like one of the piers were leaning somewhat and finally the mighty saline river pushed it over,i hear it made a loud crash that was heard from miles away.good to see the pics of it.
BIO. NOTICE OF JOHN W. MURPHY, C. E.
J. OF THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE, JAN--JUN 1874, PAGE 305
SEEMS TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT THE BEALE ROAD BRIDGES WERE WHIPPLE BOWSTRINGS (ARCHES) AND NOT WHIPPLE-MURPHY BRIDGES.
FOR DISCUSSION OF THE WHIPPLE / WHIPPLE-MURPHY / LINVILLE TRUSS, SEE PAGE 10 OF THE LINK BELOW
http://www.virginiadot.org/vtrc/main/online_reports/pdf/75-r51.pdf
ALSO FIGURE 7 AT THE TOP OF PAGE 12.
THE DISTINCTION BASED ON C. I. + W. I. VERSUS ALL W. I. FREQUENTLY IS NOT OBSERVED. (ANY PRATT TYPE TRUSS WHERE THE MAIN DIAGONALS CROSS TWO PANELS FREQUENTLY IS CALLED A WHIPPLE OR A MURPHY-WHIPPLE TRUSS OR A DOUBLE INTERSECTION PRATT TRUSS.) THESE TRUSSES WERE FOUND THROUGHOUT THE U. S.
THE WHIPPLE BOWSTRING AKA WHIPPLE ARCH WAS FOUND IN NY, OH, IND, AND ONTARIO, CANADA. FIGURE 8.
THE DOUBLE INTERSECTION TRUSS GENERALLY IMPLIES A DEEP, THROUGH TRUSS. THE BOWSTRING GENERALLY WAS A PONY TRUSS WITH SOME VERSIONS HAVING OVERHEAD BRACING AT THE MID-SPAN PANELS.
ALTHOUGH THE WHIPPLE-MURPHY TRUSS DOES NOT SEEM TO HAVE A PATENT, IT IS ILLUSTRATED IN WHIPPLE'S TEXT BOOK.
Yes the through truss is one of the original trusses. The other truss was destroyed by a flood in either 1927 or the early 1930s and was replaced by the pony trusses.
I am indeed greatly indebted to Jack Beale Smith for his tremendous research on the Beale Road bridges. It is a fascinating and nearly "lost" part of early pioneer history. I have not used any writings by Mr. Beale in my essay, however I did use some quotations from a scanned newspaper article he sent me, as well as other newspaper mentions found and provided to me by Joe Wasson (whom I did credit). While there "may" not be a Whipple Bowstring category, the most likely type of bridge (in my opinion) would be the Whipple (patent) bowstring style bridge, as it is made up of Iron castings that are individually smaller than the full length of the arch, thus easier to transport to the site without rail, or river access. While the Poteau River site was close to the Arkansas river, and I'm sure the parts arrived via riverboat, the more remote bridges in Oklahoma would have to be transported overland at least some of the distance.
In the first comment below, I have links to bridgehunter pages showing Whipple (patent) Bowstring bridges still extant, which give very clear views of what I believe was the design of this bridge. Mr. Beale and I disagree on this point, but there is plenty of room for further research.
Hmmmm....
This bridge page mentions the Whipple Bowstring Truss, so I went and looked at the 1841 patent, and found that the distinctive double intersection diagonals that distinguish a Whipple through truss are not a design element of the bowstring.
The interesting features of the Whipple bowstring design seem to be the double thin-section verticals and that the iron arch is made up of distinctive cast iron segments.
There is no Whipple Bowstring category, and no Whipple builder category that can be combined with bowstring on a Bridgehunter.com search.
Are there any bridges still standing which are true to the iron arch from Whipple's patent?
Thanks,
Don
Mr. Gene McCluney has done an excellent job on the background history of this bridge. However, He failed to inform the reader that almost all of the historical information came from my research done on the Beale Bridges which will be published soon. He had no idea where this information was until I sent it to him. I believed he was a scholarly person who would recognize those individuals who assisted in his search. As can be seen he mentions only his best friend as assisting him in this essay. Gene is incorrect in his date for the construction of this bridge. We found that it was not begun until January of 1860. Also this bridge was not a Whipple Bowstring Bridge. It was a Whipple Thru truss bridge similar to the later Pratt thru truss style.
If anyone wants to challenge me on this subject just look up Jack Beale Smith on Google or punch in Beale Wagon Road and it will tell them who I am and the amount of work I have done on the Beale Wagon Road. Just one other note of interest for the reader. Beale Wagon Road signs are being place along the Beale Road through Custer County, Oklahoma along with the sites of the 8 bridges that were constructed by Beale in the fall of 1858. If you wish to contact me you can through my email address Bealroad50@Msn.Com.
I have several pics of the bridge, if anyone is interested email me at bassangler73@hotmail.com I would be happy to share them
If I'm not mistaken, this is the bridge with the unusual arrangement where there are six 239-foot long each lift spans, with horizontal movable towers (Funk and Wagnalls Encyclopedia, Encyclopedia Americana 1941 edition). Am I right here, guys?
It most likely is from the old alignment. If you look at the tree canopy, there appears be an old bend in the road going through the forest.
The bridge is still there as of 2012, but it's now restricted to one lane traffic.
My grandfather lived in Garland City in the 1980s - 1990s. I have fond memories of traveling over the big blue bridge en route to and from visiting him.
At a truck stop/restaurant on the north side of US82, I remember seeing a photograph of the bridge with the center span in the water. can't speak for the veracity of the following, but I was told that a ferry operator at that location had objected to the free bridge (no toll) being built because it killed his business, and that he was responsible for the crime.
I also remember my grandfather telling me that the bridge was essentially tied together with steel cables by the mid-1980s because of structural deterioration. It's only hearsay, of course, but it was common gossip in the town during that period.
I'm sad that this icon of my childhood is gone. From the generic highway bridge that replaced it upstream, I guess it's true what they say: They don't make 'em like they used to.
I revisited this bridge on 20 October 2012: the trusses have been repainted grey.
If they ever needed a new road over the river, why not use the railroad bridge north of the beaver bridge?
Done. James will need to clear the link with NBI data.
Yes.
Anyone else think this listing should be modified to reflect the old arch span rather than the 1973 slab?
Any idea when the old bridge was built?
This bridge is scheduled to be replaced by the Arkansas Highway Commission sometime in the next few months. A new bridge will be built next to it and the old one will be torn down. The reason behind this move was cost. The state indicated it would cost too much to repair the bridge. It's a shame because I doubt they will build the walk ways, stairs, and use the designs that were used on the 1939 bridge.
I have been floating most all of the Caddo rivers sections over the last forty years to present and this swinging bridge is one of my favorite landmarks. I have a picture I made of a lady-friend out on the bridge as we both crossed it one winter day in 1979, a nice view of the mountains in the distance, and even the old low-water concrete bridge is visible below. Since that time, the last decking job done on the bridge has gone away with the exception of a few boards... The old concrete bridge below was washed out in May of 1990 when the Hot Springs-Norman area experienced almost a foot of rainfall in the course of one night. Two more bridges like this one also washed out that night, one at 'The Narrows', and one at Amity.
Best Regards
Jim
Thank you for the kind words, Gentlemen! It helps having something so beautiful to take a picture of!
Arkansas is a really beautiful state, and full of historic bridges. This thing however, is MODERNE/NON HISTORIQUE!
Why is this bridge on this site? It's not historical, and there's nothing special about it, and no events or tragedies have happened on it. Is this site going to eventually have every flat concrete bridge in the country listed?
This was a old bridge on middle fork. The name slips me but it was between black oak road and 16 in Elkins.
Google map link
Okay, I saw that on the bridge history description! Thank you anyway!
The Arkansas River.
What river does this bridge cross?
I visited this bridge on 20 July, 2012. It has been replaced by 2 steel culverts.
I have only crossed this bridge one time in my life.My dad has inspected it and says it's the scariest bridge he's ever been on,and there's some pretty scary bridges in Arkansas.
I remember driving dump trucks loaded down with 20-22 tons of dirt across this bridge from 2006 to 2009, It was a wild ride and I wouldn't do it again for all the gold in the world. Tough bridge though.
The new section of AR HW 226 over the Cach River Is open.
The old Brige is now CLOSED To all trafic.
Where is this from the HWY 26 bridge over the Antoine River ?
This bridge is either misplaced (possibly the pre-lake Edgemont Bridge) or a duplicate of the Old Higden Bridge. The point marked here is the current Narrows Bridge (originally called the Higden Bridge); the Old Higden Bridge was north of that. Also note that the Old Higden Bridge did *NOT* carry AR 16 at the time; before the lake, AR 16 went thru the heart of the lake between present-day Shiloh and Eden Isle, crossing the Little Red River on the Miller Bridge, before crossing a fork of the river at Edgemont just west of the modern bridge. (The Lakefront Resort Bridge led to the north end of that bridge.)
The short segment of AR 113 that includes this bridge was originally part of AR 10 before Lake Maumelle was built. When the lake was built, AR 10 was moved to its current crossing; since the old AR 10/113 junction was in the lake, the south end of AR 113 was rerouted to connect with this segment, then intersect with AR 10 where it returned to its original route.
AHTD has the plans for this bridge posted on the "historic bridges" page of their website. Those plans, consistent with the other comment and Street View, confirm that the Laney Bridge's west approach was originally built for the Martin Bridge, apparently in 1934; the sidewalks on each side of that approach were bolted on when the rest of the Laney Bridge was built in 1947. The concrete railings on the west approach match those in this site's photo of the Martin Bridge, taken in 1939; they change from concrete to metal (and the sidewalks move from outside to inside the railings) at the west end of the main spans, clearly the transition between the 1934 and 1947 structures.
You can see this trestle from hwy 187 through the trees.
Went over this bridge today on my bike. Neat area.
AHTD has a project to replace the bridge, but it is very early in the process. One of the first things we will do is send out marketing letters to the County Judge, any nearby cities, federal agencies with land in the area and the local historic society just to name a few. We always do this to determine if one of the groups is interested in assuming ownership of the bridge in place or in a new location. We are at least a few months away from sending out these letters. This is part of the Section 106 process that we will go through before a new bridge can be built. I will try to keep this group up with where we are and what is happening during the process. I will be happy to answer any questions about our process.
Bob Scoggin
Can someone change the category on this bridge from "closed spandrel arch" to "open spandrel arch?" It's obvious from looking at the pictures that it's an open spandrel arch.
Are federal funds involved with the replacement? Is any federal agency involved? If yes to either, has a Section 106 Review to consider alternatives to demolition been conducted as required by law?
This bridge is about to be torn down and replaced. The new bridge will wipe out the Turner Bend Campground. Can someone who knows what they're doing contact someone and get them to stop?
Here are a few links to Whipple bowstring bridges, the style and construction we believe to be similar or identical to the Beale Road bridges.
http://bridgehunter.com/ny/columbia/shaw/
The original plans for this bridge show that it replaced a three span truss:
Also, there was an alternate design that would have used a truss:
Although the girders on the edges are ugly, I suspect they saved the bridge. If the truss design had been used, it probably would have been replaced in the 50's when the highway was widened.
Phillip: It is a restricted area, however when I asked a policeman for directions, he said it's tucked down in the woods and nobody ever calls the cops. He said that the police don't even patrol down there because it's not city property, it's Union Pacific Property.
This bridge is amazing to get night shots of, it's located in the river market and the lighting is amazing. Sure there's some graffiti on it, but it adds to the effect.
I'm from Newark :) The power plant you see is run by Entergy and it's NOT nuclear. It actually is a transfer plant for the South Ward of New Orleans (The South Ward gets its power from the Newark plant.) Growing up I heard so many stories of the "Cry Baby Bridge" as so many people have. To be honest despite its age and prestige, this is a VERY creepy bridge!
I visited the old river bridge today. The Bridge WAS used in the opening scenes of Sling Blade. I saw a Benton Police Officer and asked him about it, he said it IS off limits and there IS a gate that prohibits vehicles from traveling there however it's tucked away in the woods and there are rarely any police reports of trespassing there. There is NO approach to the bridge so it's not possible to get on it UNLESS you want to take the risk of being bitten by one of the 6 Water Moccasins I saw on my trip. About 100 yards upstream there is an ACTIVE train trussel however I don't think it's accessible from the Benton side, you need to go a little south to Haskell to get on, i'm not sure though.
I remember crossing this bridge once in the late 1940s, when I was about eight or nine years old. It had a wooden deck, was a narrow one lane, and moved more than I liked. In fact, I think the entire family objected to crossing it but Daddy was in charge and we went over. It felt good to complete the trek.
Daddy was born in Pocahontas in 1905. This bridge opened in 1912. We moved from Pocahontas when I was a baby but traveled back for visits in the late 1940s and 1950s. Daddy always pointed out the bridge, as well as the old ice plant near the Pochontas end where my grandfather had once been the chief engineer. In 1986 I took my own family for a visit, the first time I had been to the area in 30 years. They were preparing to dismantle the bridge just a few months after our visit. I later obtained a Pocahontas newspaper (dated 9 October 1986) which gave the story. They tried to pull the bridge off its foundations with cables and bulldozers, but the Old Lady won that battle. They finally had to use 20 sticks of dynamite to loosen it up enough to topple it. It took them almost a week to get that far, as if the bridge was fighting them. The bridge weighed an estimated two-million pounds, and when built was the longest swing bridge in the country. Amazing enough it swung by man-power alone. It was balanced well enough, and the gears were such, that two men would stand on the turn-stile with a T-shaped handle and turn the bridge with no help. Too bad it could not have been saved.
We crossed this bridge many times in my childhood. Loved that old bridge.
I uploaded a new version with minor improvements and corrections tonight. Sometime I intend to do a larger update and add even more content.
Thanks, Nathan. Those slides are very helpful.
This looks to me that this might be one of those bridges that looks like a Baltimore but follows the Warren design.
That reminds me that I have some updates and corrections to make to those slides. I will work on that and post an announcement when the new ones are up.
Thanks. I changed it to a Baltimore truss. I'm still learning the different types. I need to spend more time looking over Nathan's Historic Bridges Crash Course slides. :)
Two questions here: First, is this a Baltimore truss rather than Warren? Second, although the documentation on the old US 70 bridge downstream states the CRI&P built a bridge here in 1870, do the I-beams on this bridge look newer than that era?
History of the DeValls Bluff Bridge (from AHTD): http://tinyurl.com/devalls-bluff
The bridge to the north of the new highway bridge shows as a crossing of the CRI&P on the 1968 quad. The rail may have been out of use for 30 years, partly removed, and thus hard to see in the photos.
I deleted the street view that showed the abandoned bridge on this page. Also, I created a new page for the abandoned bridge. I don't know anything about it, so if anybody else does, feel free to add some insight. I added some photos I took a few weeks ago. Here's the link to the page:
I visited this bridge on April 23. 2012 to find it no longer exists. It appears the county intends to replace it and the 2 nearby bridges with metal rail car culverts
i am interested in when the bridge was built,and what did the old bridge look like. also was the old bridge as long as the new one is....
We crossed this bridge sometimes when I was a small boy. It was narrow and high and very scary. The cross planks were always loose and clattered as you hit each one. The longitudinal planks formed two tracks about 2 feet wide where you were supposed to drive. There was a curve in the bridge on the east side, adding to the fear factor. The bridge always shook as you drove along.
Nice find!
From what I can find Bailey bridges (modular truss sections) were the standard in WW2 and saw a lot of use afterwards as they hit the surplus market in huge numbers. The term may have gone from a brand name to generic for any modular bridge.
The Bailey web site doesn't show anything like this bridge in their offerings. There are other companies selling modular bridges, some truss sections like the Bailey, others building bridges from things like recycled railroad flat cars. I've not seen anything like this bridge yet.
These pieces may be reused from some other structure. It may require local research to figure out what the bridge is made of.
A very unusual bridge and worth some extra looking so it can be properly documented.
Clark: Let me know what you find. The only way I knew this was a Bailey bridge was what I had found in either the Booneville newspaper or Paris newspaper. The article read that Logan County was going to put in several Bailey bridges and said they were of Army surplus. A photograph of the so called, "Bailey" appeared in the newspaper. Got me wondering now, are there different varieties of Baileys built?
Clark: You are correct. Appreciate the correction. Have also included a photo of plaque. Thanx!
It certainly looks like a prefab but I think of Baily bridges as having an open truss structure like the ones pictured on their site:
http://www.baileybridge.com/bailey_bridges_03.html
I'll see if I can find additional information about this.
Clark: Did you check all the photos? You can see the pins connecting on the side. Logan County also used cement flooring running down the middle along with the Baileys. Thought this was a bit unusual. Bridge sits on W.P.A. piers and abutments. Let me know if I am wrong on this and I'll correct it. "Ghostbridgehunter"
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